From Our Own Correspondent

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The battle against the gangs of El Salvador Jul 13, 2019

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The President of El Salvador is calling on young men to leave the country’s criminal gangs, or perish with them. He said the gangs have terrorised the country for decades, and would be dismantled. Orla Guerin has been to the capital, San Salvador, to see how the gangs menace the city. Greece has a new Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis of the centre-right party New Democracy, defeating the socialist Alexis Tsipras. Mark Lowen was based in Athens at the height of the financial crisis, which led to Greece experiencing one of the worst peace-time depressions of the last hundred years. He returned to watch the old conservative party being brought back to power. Five years ago, Russian-backed forces seized control of the Crimean peninsula. Ash Bhardwaj gained permission to enter Crimea, to find out what’s changed in five year’s of Russian rule. A hundred years ago, the passing of the Addison Act spurred a huge expansion in council housing across the UK. Austria too has been remembering when it began building social housing around 100 years ago. In Vienna today more than half of its population live in subsidised apartment blocks. Some of these are of vast scale, such as Karl Marx Hof, more than half a mile long. Caroline Davies has been finding out what lessons policy makers can learn from the Viennese approach to housing. The end of the Cricket World Cup is drawing near, and the final match, between England and New Zealand, will be watched by fans from all over the world. But what would they make of how the game is played in the Trobiand Islands, located off the coast of Papua New Guinea? The people there have a passion for cricket that borders on the extreme, as Mark Stratton has discovered. Presenter: Kate Adie Producer: Neil Koenig

Jamal Khashoggi - unanswered questions Jul 11, 2019

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There was an international outcry following the murder of journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last year. Saudi officials blamed rogue agents sent to persuade him to return to the kingdom. Frank Gardner reflects on his encounters with Jamal Khashoggi and the questions that still need answering. Germany has pledged to more than halve its greenhouse emissions by 2030, compared with 1990 levels. But the country still relies on coal to provide 40 percent of its electricity. Tim Mansel visits a village in Rhineland that is being eaten up by a coal mine and encounters some activists at the forefront of the climate change debate. More than 25 years on from the Oslo Peace accords, close friendships between Palestinians and Israelis are still rare. Charlie Faulkner attends a Shabbat meal in Jerusalem where an Israeli woman invites a former Palestinian prisoner to her home. Maternal mortality rates in Ethiopia have been hugely reduced thanks to an innovative programme of medical training. Ruth Evans finds out how it works at a project in the north of the country. This year the Chinese government announced that it was closing Everest Base Camp to trekkers and tourists on the Tibetan side of the mountain because of the rubbish that’s accumulated in the area. Jeremy Grange has travelled to Everest Base Camp on the Nepalese side to find out about the challenge of dealing with a mountain of rubbish.

The Women and Children of Islamic State Jul 06, 2019

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A visit to an IS women and children's camp in northern Syria where the residents face an uncertain future. Anna Foster visits the Al Hawl camp to talk to those who are trying to salvage some form of life beyond the caliphate The rape and murder of an eight-year old girl last year in Indian-administered Kashmir had reverberations across India. As they awaited the verdict of the trial of the eight accused, Divya Arya went to speak to the nomadic Muslim community trying to come to terms with their loss. The rate of destruction in the Amazon rainforest has increased by 60 percent in the last two months, and the impact of deforestation is being heavily felt by Brazil's indigenous people. David Shukman, the BBC's Science editor, went to visit the Uru-eu-wau-wau people and learned how they were trying to balance their traditional way of life with the pace of change and development in the region. A local village mayor in south-West France has launched a campaign for rural noises, such as the sound of cicadas and roosters, to be awarded national heritage status. Chris Bockman visits the village of Gajac and discovers that the battle lines have been drawn between two very different groups of residents over the issue. The Catalan independence movement has attracted international media to the region, and one journalist, Tim Smith, found himself on assignment in Barcelona for a prolonged stay. He discovered the internet can be a useful resource for forging new and eclectic friendship groups, and finds himself immersed in everything from heated political debates to advanced cycling.

All change at the top in Brussels Jul 04, 2019

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European leaders have finally decided who should fill the top jobs in EU organisations. They have nominated German defence minister, Ursula von der Leyen, as the new President of the European Commission. She must now be approved by MEPs in Strasbourg, which has meant some serious train travel for Adam Fleming. The shocking picture of a father and his daughter lying dead in the Rio Grande recently highlighted the risks for migrants trying to cross illegally into the United States. As Chris Buckler found, others stranded on the border have a long wait. In Sub-Saharan Africa, women often have to queue for hours for water. But a new high-tech scheme in one village in Tanzania is transforming access to clean water. Chloe Farand went to see the project. Tarkhan Batirashvili grew up in Georgia’s Caucasus mountains. He became one of the most notorious terrorists in the world, ruling northern Syria for Islamic State until his death in 2016. Tarkhan’s cousin Temuri wants to combat the radicalisation that set Tarkhan on his course to Syria. But this is no easy task, as William Dunbar discovers. As the Women’s World Cup nears its final stage, the organisers hope the contest will help to raise the profile of female football players across the globe. But that may be easier to achieve in some places than in others. In Argentina, for instance, the game is everything. But for decades women have had little part to play, and almost no chance of becoming professionals. This is something that Macarena Sánchez wants to change, as she fights to be accepted as a professional football player. Aude Villiers-Moriamé met her.

Istanbul's mayoral election upset Jun 29, 2019

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After his party lost the Istanbul mayoral election where does Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, go from here? Mark Lowen considers whether this could be the start of his political decline. Katie Arnold reports from Kyrgyzstan where hot dry summers in the former Soviet republic are leading to drought and cross- border tension over water supplies. Alastair Leithead, the BBC's Africa correspondent, is leaving the continent 17 years after he filed his first piece for From Our Own Correspondent. How much has his role changed since then? In the United States where fourteen parents have pleaded guilty to fraudulently getting their children into top universities, Laura Trevelyan considers the lengths some parents will go to help their offspring get into their preferred college. And as much of Europe swelters under a heat wave James Reynolds takes the temperature in Rome and finds out what hot weather means to its citizens.

An Executive Order from the White House Jun 27, 2019

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After an aborted missile strike, Washington insiders are scratching their heads over the President's modus operandi on Iran. Barbara Plett Usher looks at the new normal of the Trump administration. Vladimir Putin has cancelled Russian flights to Georgia after anti-Russian protests in Tbilisi, a move which will heavily impact the country's tourism industry. Rayhan Demytrie assesses the impact of President Putin's warnings on Russians holidaying there. The Armenian community was once a thriving hub in India's Chennai, running trading companies, shipping lines, coal mines and real estate developments, but their numbers have dwindled since then. Andrew Whitehead attends a service in the eighteenth-century Armenian church in the city attended by those that remain. Rocket attacks on foreign oil companies' compounds in southern Iraq may have grabbed headlines, but the citizen's of Basra are more concerned about power cuts, rubbish strewn streets and job shortages. Years after the fall of Saddam Hussein, Lizzie Porter finds not much has improved for the local population in the region. The Netherlands has long touted its green credentials, but, thanks to its coal-fired power stations, it is in fact one of Europe's biggest carbon emitters. The capital, Amsterdam, is positioning itself as a new hub for green businesses, and David Baker went to find out.

From Our Home Correspondent 23/06/2019 Jun 23, 2019

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In the latest programme of the monthly series, Mishal Husain introduces dispatches from journalists and writers around the United Kingdom that reflect the range of contemporary life in the country.

Alison Holt considers with a Somerset family why adult social care is the policy reform no UK government does anything about. In the week of BBC Cardiff Singer of the World, Martin Smith asks how far the Welsh heritage in singing is endangered and whether it might yet be part of Wales' economic future. With the time-worn quips over an Essex town ringing in her ears, Jo Glanville discovers that established notions of Southend as a seaside resort with its best days behind it are out-of-date. Andrew Green looks at the idea of the bird celebrated in the most popular piece of classical music in Britain and the reality of its existence today on the Chilterns. And Dan Johnson contemplates the personal and social links between a stately pile near Barnsley and those who live in the communities close to it.

Producer: Simon Coates

Mohammed Morsi dies Jun 22, 2019

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The death of Mohammed Morsi throws into sharp relief the challenges facing modern day Egypt, and the bigger struggle to embrace democracy. Kevin Connolly reflects back on the defining moments of his presidency.

Colin Freeman visits a town in the heart of Boko Haram territory in Nigeria's north-east, and learns about a new faction which has formally declared allegiance to so-called Islamic State - and adopted a new strategy.

20 years after Nato peacekeepers entered Kosovo, James Coomarasamy meets the war widows who are challenging local norms by working for a successful pickling company.

Germany is grappling with the possibility a man with far-right extremist links was responsible for the shooting of one of Angela's Merkel's pro-refugee allies. Reha Kansara meets a woman who spends hours each day tackling online hate speech in the country.

The warm-blooded manatee makes its way each winter to the USA's Sunshine State, but its steadily rising population was recently blighted by one of the worst cases of Red Tide - a form of toxic algae. Phoebe Smith took to the waters to encounter Florida's most loved wildlife attraction.

Slum landlords in Marseille Jun 20, 2019

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An accident in the historic centre of Marseille in the south of France has sent shock waves through the city. Two apartment blocks collapsed late last year with the loss of eight lives. Lucy Ash asks who is to blame - slum landlords, corrupt politicians or a combination of the two? There's growing evidence of China's attempts to control its Muslim minorities and suppress their beliefs. John Sudworth was given rare access to some of the secure facilities where hundreds of thousands of Muslims are being held in the western region of Xinjiang, even though they've committed no crime nor faced trial. In Addis Ababa, Theo Leggett hears from the boss of Ethiopian Airlines who's fighting to defend the company's reputation - he says the fatal crash of one of its Boeing 737 Max aircraft in March was not the fault of his pilots. What's it like to return to a South African township school where you taught twenty seven years earlier? James Helm makes a very personal journey. And Sonia Faleiro observes the life-changing nature of a restaurant job in Goa on India's west coast.

Presenter: Kate Adie Producer: Caroline Bayley

Ebola spreads to Uganda Jun 15, 2019

Show notes

Ebola has spread from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Uganda as the authorities struggle to control it. Olivia Acland visits an Ebola zone in the DRC. Russian journalist, Ivan Golunov, this week was let off drug dealing charges after a public outcry. Steve Rosenberg looks at why the case has been so embarrassing for the Russian authorities. The protests in Hong Kong this week have seen some unlikely allies - and foes. Gabriel Gatehouse witnesses a rare stand off between a Hong Kong legislator and the police. Italy's Prime Minister is arguably less well known than his deputies. James Reynolds unpicks a complicated web of Italian politics. Whether you are visiting New Zealand's volcanoes or its spectacular fjords, getting around without a car in the country can be difficult. Christine Finn finds out why hitchhiking is popular for tourists.

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